AZ GOP Top Director Arrested At Party Headquarters

PHOENIX - Just as Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen was concluding a meeting this morning at the Arizona Republican Party headquarters, he and fellow Republican leaders and staffers watched in shock as police officers handcuffed and took into custody their top staffer, Executive Director Brett Mecum, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the party.

According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Mecum was photographed just after midnight on April 10 by a stationary photo enforcement camera driving his Ford Mustang on the 101 freeway eastbound near 59th Avenue driving 109 miles per hour in a 65 mile-per-hour zone.

The DPS statement says, "The state statute which covers criminal speeding applies to everyone equally. If there are valid criminal charges, the arrest of Mr. Mecum is like any other criminal speeding arrest. In this case, the charges speak for themselves."

Lee Miller, an attorney for the Arizona Republican Party, told the Arizona Capitol Times, "It was a silly, stupid thing to do and there is no excuse and there's no justification for it."

Six hours after Mecum's arrest, a fellow Republican Party staffer was still waiting to pick Mecum up from the Maricopa County 4th Avenue Jail in Phoenix.

Comments

[CaptainHowdy2]

Those Mustangs can really go that fast?

[Tperl]

Nice work Sheriff Joe Arpaio!!! Out of power and into jail.

[brandnewstuff]

So a staffer had the need for speeed! go speed go-- to jail

[SaltyWench]

I'm not a fan of the Republicans, but I am a huge fan of Mustangs...

I just think it's a crime NOT to drive fast in a car like that.

Don't hate me because I'm shallow!

[frontstreet]

LOL

[MikeRdg]

He needs to tame his mustang. Friday night, huh?

[-0013]

How controversial. A man is getting taken to jail for driving too fast and wrecklessly.

This is undoubtedly the final nail in the coffin of the GOP.

[GreatNews27]

I'm sure once the police realized that IOKIARDI, they prompty dismissed the charges and fired all officers involved. Silly police!

[EasyToRefuteWingnuts]

Obviously, this is great news for John McCain.

[vet22yr]

But that was in the past, lets look forward. He won't do that again.

[solopico]

What is that, the Bill Ayers defense?

[Dace]

No it is the GOP torturers defense - so now it means anyone can commit crimes and just move on because it was in the past. The great GOP criminal role models have set us all free - consequence free crime YEAH!!!!

[BassMonk]

Have you been sleeping for the last six months?

[hunt49]

Everybody here knows right where these cameras are - you'd have to be incredibly dense to do this.

Or if it was a mobile unit, they PUT UP SIGNS ahead of them warning you.

I'm not crazy about the speed cameras, but I do think they are a very valid way to catch exactly this sort of insanely excessive speed. Leave them in place and set the threshold for getting your 'glamour shot' at 90 or 100 mph. Leave anything below that to actual law enforcement.

People say this is an infringement on personal liberty -- but to paraphrase Thurgood Marshall, when you're swinging your fist at 109 mph, it's hard to tell where someone's nose begins.

[demlake]

I agree with that.

Not in favour of those camera's generally, but people who drive at 100 plus mph are menaces. One tiny mistake and they, their passengers, and whoever they hit, are dead.

So hit him with the maximum possible.

[LiberalForever]

Will he have to wear pink boxers and live in a tent? Just sayin....

[delandjim]

He probably will, not all inmates are in tents. However, inmates may CHOOSE TO BE THERE TO REDUCE THEIR SENTENCE BY HALF. Oddly for a short sentence it is better not as bad as it sounds. It is very cool at night for sleeping and we are fairly used to the heat is you live here.

I know it sounds strange, but for half the sentence people want to go but not all can because it is FULL.

[jigisup]

If one breaks the law, they should pay the price, reguardless of wether you agree with the law or how they were caught breaking it. Don't do the crime if you don't wasnt to do the time or pay the fine.

[STG 44]

There are problems, like photo-radar for example.
Then there are solutions, like photo-radar detectors and license plate diffusers.
All commercially available and legal to own. I am not affiliated with the site shown below financially, personally or in any other way except as an occasional customer.
http://www.radarbusters.com/photo-radar/license-plate-shields/6524+6528+4293856170.cfm#N=6524+6528+4293856170+4293772847[phone]6&Ns=Preferred&view=36&display=grid_view

[Horus45]

I guess you do not watch Mythbusters because they tested and debunked every single one of these items that claim to defeat the camera radar.
None of them worked.

[hunt49]

I had thought the plate diffusers were illegal.

[STG 44]

Plate covers, and therefore diffusers, are illegal in some states, N.Y. and CA. I think are two major examples. The other devices are mainly G.P.S. based and alert the driver to the known or reported presence of speed cameras as well as red light cameras. Some high end radar detectors also include G.P.S. warnings.

[sammymaudlin]

When I saw the mugshot I thought he was getting arrested for wearing a that Gordon-Gecko-Wannabe shirt.

[AbsurdHero]

Going at 109 mph wastes significantly more fuel as driving the speed limit. Where are your fiscal conservative bona fides now?

[STG 44]

Remember, kiddies:
SPEED THRILLS!!!